Fear and Loathing at Rolling Stone: The Essential Writing of Hunter S. Thompson

A definitive, hand-picked selection of Hunter S. Thompson's finest pieces ever published in Rolling Stone — the magazine that he helped to put on the map in the 1970s.

Fear and Loathing at Rolling Stone showcases the evolution of a writer and a magazine. Jann S. Wenner, Hunter Thompson's editor and friend for nearly thirty-five years, has selected the pieces — including many never collected before — to show Hunter's Rolling Stone writing, when taken as a whole, as an extended, allusive autobiography of the writer himself pursuing his lifelong obsession, the king-hell story of them all: The Death of the American Dream.

From Hunter's first piece for Rolling Stone — the story of his infamous run for sheriff of Aspen in 1970 on the Freak Party platform — to his last piece on the Kerry/Bush showdown in 2004, with plenty of Nixon, Watergate, Vietnam, Muhammad Ali, and Bill Clinton woven in along the way, Fear and Loathing at Rolling Stone presents forty-two examples of the best of Hunters work edited anew, along with never-before-seen selections from the correspondence between Wenner and Thompson. The result is a vital inside glimpse of the rollicking spectacle of a writer at his peak, delivering the work of his career to the editor of the magazine that became his literary home.

"The editors at Rolling Stone had a term for the nut of truth that sprouted from Thompson's raving dispatches from the front lines of American degradation. They called it 'the Wisdom,' and this riotous new anthology contains plenty. From his own 1970 campaign for sheriff of Aspen, Col., through the sordid tangle of the Nixon years, until his suicide in 2005, Thompson (The Rum Diary) was America's greatest gonzo journalist, each article 'a classic of irresponsible gibberish.' Readers who prefer their narrators driving drunk and freaking out on mescaline will find much to enjoy here, but Thompson's private correspondence reveals the committed reporter who insisted on grammar and copyediting, the political analyst who reveled in the minutiae of campaign strategy, and the earnest advocate who didn't hesitate to throw his celebrity behind a worthy cause. Too many gonzo writers use the gimmicks of excess to mask their lack of content. Thompson was the opposite. The more dissolute his visions, the deeper his insights become. For all the bravado, a sad, deep kinship with freaks and losers, and America itself, pervades these pages." Publishers Weekly Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

"Hunter was the only twentieth-century equivalent of Mark Twain." Tom Wolfe

“Thompson is a genuinely unique figure in American journalism, a superb comic writer and a ferociously outspoken social and political critic.” The Washington Post

“Mr. Thompson, the flamboyant apostle and avatar of gonzo journalism, still exerts a powerful hold on the American psyche....He was first and foremost an original, vivid prose voice.” The New York Times

“Some of the finest political and social writing of our times.” The Seattle Times

“Thompson should be recognized for contributing some of the clearest, most bracing and fearless analysis of the possibilities and failures of American democracy in the past century.” Chicago Tribune

“At his best he has the kind of trenchant, mordant wit of H. L. Mencken and Mark Twain.” Houston Chronicle

From Hunter S. Thompson's first piece for Rolling Stone — the story of his infamous run for sheriff of Aspen in 1970 — to his last — an examination of the Kerry/Bush showdown in 2004 — Fear and Loathing at Rolling Stone presents more than 40 examples of his best work. Thompson takes us on a roller-coaster ride filled with the likes of McGovern and Nixon, Watergate and Vietnam, Ali and Clinton. And buttressing the narrative throughout are letters and memos that illuminate the stories behind the stories — from the original back-and-forth resulting in Thompson's first pieces to the meticulous planning for his reporting of the '72 campaign. Simply put, Fear and Loathing at Rolling Stone is the definitive work of the magazine's most popular writer.

Rolling Stone's editors compile highlights of Hunter's illustrious career — articles he published for them in his 35-plus years as a contributor.

The definitive collection of the king of gonzo journalism's finest work for Rolling Stone “Buy the ticket, take the ride,” was a favorite slogan of Hunter S. Thompson, and it pretty much defined both his work and his life. Fear and Loathing at Rolling Stone showcases the roller-coaster of a career at the magazine that was his literary home.

Jann S. Wenner, the outlaw journalists friend and editor for nearly thirty-five years, has assembled articles that begin with Thompson's infamous run for sheriff of Aspen on the Freak Party ticket in 1970 and end with his final piece on the Bush-Kerry showdown of 2004. In between is Thompson's remarkable coverage of the 1972 presidential campaign — a miracle of journalism under pressure — and plenty of attention paid to Richard Nixon, his bête noire; encounters with Muhammad Ali, Bill Clinton, and the Super Bowl; and a lengthy excerpt from his acknowledged masterpiece, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

Woven throughout is selected correspondence between Wenner and Thompson, most of it never before published. It traces the evolution of a personal and professional relationship that helped redefine modern American journalism, and also presents Thompson through a new prism as he pursued his lifelong obsession: The life and death of the American Dream.

Rolling Stone's editors compile highlights of Hunter's illustrious career—articles he published for them in his 35-plus years as a contributor.

Hunter S. Thompson's books include Fear and Loathing in America, Screwjack, Hell's Angels, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Proud Highway, Better Than Sex, The Rum Diary, and Kingdom of Fear. He was contributor to various national and international publications, including a weekly sports column for ESPN.com.

Hunter S. Thompson died February 2005.